“Of
all the positives I’ll take from our match today, our play in doubles is what I’m
most pleased with,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist shared. “Another big
difference in our program this year is Tyler Stuart, our new strength and
conditioning coach. We look stronger than we ever have and a lot of credit goes
to him. You can tell in our core and our shoulders, the way we’re coming in.
This is the best and strongest we’ve ever looked.”

Playing
for the first time as the nation’s top-ranked singles player, Sofie Oyen
(Leopoldsburg, Belgium) was impressive in her 6-1, 6-2 victory against Danielle
Mills on court 2, where the Gator junior needed 61 minutes to give Florida a
2-0 lead in the team scoring. Oyen held serve throughout the first set, earning
breaks in the second and fifth games to close out the frame in 26 minutes. The
two began the second trading breaks before Oyen collected her fourth of the
match and held for a 3-1 lead. Mills won the next two games, but Oyen broke
again and served out at love for the victory.

Fifth-ranked
Embree held serve throughout her match en route to a 6-1, 6-1 win against No.
50 Lereto Alonso Martinez, as she improved to 98-14 in her singles career. Embree’s
winning percentage ranks as the third best in UF history. The Gator senior held
at love to begin the match and lost just one point against Alonso Martinez’s
serve in the second game en route to a quick 3-0 lead. The Bull held in the
fourth game, but Embree took charge of the next seven games as she took the
first set and a 4-0 lead in the second. The fifth game was a long one, but
Alonso Martinez finally held, but Embree charged right back and lost just one
point on her next serve before capitalizing on her third match point in the
ensuing game to earn the win.

Danielle
Collins
(St. Petersburg, Fla.) won her collegiate dual match debut with a 7-5, 6-0
victory over Fanny Fracassi on court three. The Gator rookie was in a battle
throughout her first set that featured seven service breaks. Collins came out
with the final and most important one in the 12th game as she broke to capture
the first frame. She carried that momentum into the second set, where she won
the first three games before Fracassi called for a medical timeout. She
returned to the court but wasn’t the same, as Collins bageled the set and
provided the clinching dual match victory.

Caroline
Hitmana
(Waterloo, Belgium) was the next off the court, as she provided a 6-4, 6-0 win
against Kate Parker. Similar to Collins’ match, Hitimana’s first set also had
seven breaks and the Gator senior emerged with the final one in the 10th game
where she broke at love and took that energy into the second set, blanking
Parker en route to the victory.

Brianna
Morgan
(Beverly Hills, Calif.) notched her first collegiate dual match singles win
with a 6-2, 6-2 decision against Alessandra Bonte on court five. There were
several duce games throughout the match, including the second one of the set
that kept the match on-serve early. Morgan held a 5-1 lead in the opening
frame, but Bonte held and fought off the Gator rookie’s serve. Morgan held
steady and broke in the next game to take the first set. The two competitors
exchanged serves to begin the second and Morgan earned the first break to take
a 4-1 lead after holding. She broke again for the 5-1 lead and later took Bonte’s
serve one last time in the final game for the match.

Olivia
Janowicz
(Palm Bay, Fla.) was the last off the court, as she rallied from a slow start
for the 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory against Paula Montoya. The Gator junior lost her
serve to open the match and couldn’t quite take the lead despite earning two
breaks. Janowicz returned the court after dropping that first set and marched
out to a 4-0 lead and eventually the second set to force a deciding third, where
she again took a 4-0 lead. Montoya prevented the third-set shutout by holding
in the fifth game, as Janowicz won the final two games to cap the team sweep.

“We
had some nerves but were able to play our way out of that,” Thornqvist said. “Most
of our players have been there with the ESPN camera on their court, in their
face and the tension of a match and they’ve learned to play through it. Our two
freshmen did a good job of that today. It’s their first time wearing the Gator
uniform and it’s going to take a bit to play through those nerves. They did a
good job.”

Florida
took the doubles point by winning the matches on courts one and two and was
leading 7-3 on court three when play was abandoned.

The
pair of Danielle Collins and Olivia Janowicz was efficient in
their 8-1 victory against Alessandra Bonte and Lereto Alonso Martinez, as the
pair needed just 35 minutes to improve to 9-2 overall as a tandem. The Bulls
held to begin the match, before Collins, who did not lose a point on either of
her service games, won an impressive game and helped the Gators win the next
eight games to capture the win, one that marked the 49th career doubles victory
for Janowicz.

Lauren
Embree
and Sofie Oyen provided the second win of the dual match with an 8-4
victory against Kayla Rizzolo and Danielle Mills on court one and captured the
doubles point for the Gators. The Florida pair held double-match point in the
10th game of the eight-game pro-set but couldn’t close out the win, as the
Bulls held and forced Embree to serve out for the victory, which she did and
secured the 99th doubles win of her distinguished career. Embree, whose career
record stands at 99-18, aims to become the 13th Gator to reach the 100-win mark
for doubles.

Embree
is now tied with current Gator volunteer assistant coach Anastasia Revzina for
14th in UF history for career doubles wins.

“The
pace of our (court one) doubles team was extraordinary,” Thornqvist said. “The
South Florida team did a great job of hitting the ball hard and tried to be creative.
I thought Lauren and Sofie were excellent. They handled the pace and top it at
times and were the more creative team.”

Alexandra
Cercone
(Seminole, Fla.) and Brianna Morgan jumped out to a 4-1 lead on court
three against Fanny Fracassi and Paula Montoya, who held and got a break. The
Gators, however, came right back with a break and Morgan held for the 6-3 lead.
UF earned another break but play was halted once Embree and Oyen closed out the
doubles point win.

“I
thought Alex and Brianna were creative, as well,” Thornqvist said. “That’s the
key for us in playing good doubles, we have to be creative. We have to have a
purpose with our play and we did that.”

The
Gators return to action on Wed., Jan. 30 when they play host to UCF (2-0)
beginning at 3 p.m. Admission is free, as is parking in the UF Law School lot
located next to Ring Tennis Complex, as restrictions have been waived.